A Change
by May Yuki
Summary: How did Ann and Ryuji meet? And what does that have to do with Ryuji's decision to bleach his hair?


**The moment Ryuji said "Still sticks out. Hasn't changed a bit." I knew I had to write something. But I never got around to it BUT certain circumstances led me to finally sitting down and writing it. Hope you enjoy!**

* * *

"No way! That's too expensive!" The rowdy boy's voice catches her attention. She glances over, seeing the dark-haired classmate looking regretfully at a stuffed dolphin. He sighs, "Damnit, I'm short a couple yen." His gaze does not leave the dolphin even though his body has already turned away.

She glances down at the coin bag in her hand, having planned on buying something for her parents…that is…if they even come back. They've been traveling nonstop in the past year and she's been getting rather lonely at home. Finally deciding, she grabs a couple yen from the bag and intercepts the boy before he can walk too far away.

"What's up?" he asks, shoving his hands in his pockets. His eyes glance back to the dolphin for a brief moment before focusing his attention on her. Amidst the crowd, she stands out with her blonde hair and striking blue eyes.

"Um…" she puts her hand out, the coins jingling. He looks at her hand in confusion, not really understanding what the money is for.

"Hm?" The girl is still looking at him, but he's not really sure what she's doing.

As time seems to drag on, the girl scowls. "Jeez! How dense can you be?" She steps forward, grabs his arm, and puts the yen in his hand. "I dunno who's it for, but…just pay me back when you can."

The boy looks down at the yen in his hand before looking up at the girl. Her eyes are looking at something behind him…but wha- wait…He follows her gaze to the stuffed dolphin he had been eyeing for his mom. Realization dawns on him and he whips his head back to her. He hugs her briefly before charging back to the stand. "Hey, old geezer! Don't sell that dolphin yet!"

* * *

"It's a lot bigger than I thought!" she comments, trying to stifle her giggles as the boy struggles to walk with the dolphin in hand.

"'S nuthin' I can't handle!" the boy boasts, almost tripping over his own feet. The various classes are walking back to the school building to wait for their parents to pick them up, but the pair are one of the last in the group because of the boy's gift.

"At least you have it!"

"Yeah! And my mom's gonna love it!" The girl's pace slows, the boy's comment having unintentionally rubbed salt in her wound. He glances behind when he realizes the girl isn't next to him anymore.

"Hey! You good?" He struggles to come back to her and she shakes her head.

"Yeah, I'm fine!" she forces a smile on her face as she catches up with him. "By the way, I think you're in my class right? What was your name again? Sakura?"

The boy grimaces, "It's Sakamoto! Ryuji Sakamoto!" He studies her for a moment. "And you're-"

The girl suddenly stumbles forward as a trio of boys trot past her. "Foreigner!" one of them yells.

" _Gaijin_!"

They head back into the school building, not even stopping to see if she's okay.

Without thinking, Ryuji sets down the dolphin and crouches down next to the girl. "Hey, you okay?" He glances to the retreating figures of the boys. "Those assholes."

"It's okay…" the girl mutters, still face down on the ground. One of her pigtails had come undone when she fell and the other one is close. She finally pushes herself up into a sitting position. "They're not the first. It's been like that since I transferred to Tokyo, but there's nothing I can do." The girl fixes up her hair and notices the stuffed dolphin on the ground. "Sakamoto! Your dolphin's dirty!"

"Ah, my mom'll understand. Helping you is more important right now. Lemme see if you got any cuts."

"It's fine! Really!" She shoves him away before wincing, the abrasion on her elbow irritated from her movement.

"No you're not! C'mon, lemme take you to the nurse's!"

* * *

"Ow! Are you sure you know how to clean?!"

"I can't do it if you keep yelling at me!" Ryuji grabs the girl's arm again and pats at the elbow with a cotton ball. "Besides, I'm wiping at it with alcohol. 'Course it's gonna sting a little." The girl finally quiets down, her other hand fiddling with her pigtails. After a couple more moments, Ryuji pulls away. "There! Now we just gotta put a band-aid over it!" He grabs a couple types of bandages from the kit, shuffles through it, and grabs one that would cover the wound properly.

Once the band-aid is in place, he pulls away. The girl looks down at her feet, "Thanks."

"Aw it's nuthin'. So who were those three?"

"Just some of our classmates. They just like picking on me because I'm… _different_."

"Those assholes, I'm gonna find them and deal with them-"

"No!" The girl yells out, startling him. "I mean…it's gonna make a huge mess. I'll be okay, really."

Ryuji tries to protest, "But there's nothing wr-"

The girl suddenly shoots up. "I said don't worry about it." She walks quickly out of the room, leaving Ryuji alone.

* * *

[ **THE NEXT DAY]**

"Sakamoto! What did you do to your hair?!"

The girl had been looking out the window, but the yelling redirects her attention to the young boy that had just walked into the classroom. Her eyes widen.

Ryuji Sakamoto had short dark hair yesterday. But now, Ryuji Sakamoto has short _blonde_ hair. All the classmates rush over, questioning him, but the girl looks away.

"Takamaki, doesn't his hair color look kinda like yours?" The girl sitting in front of her asks. "I mean, it's not the exact color but it's still pretty close." Takamaki narrows her eyes, shifting her gaze back over to the crowd by the door. Pouting, she marches over and shoves her way to the center of attention.

"What's up with you? Why'd you suddenly decide to change your hair color?" she demands, completely disregarding the attention shifting back to her.

Ryuji grins, not once dropping her gaze, "I felt like a change."

* * *

 **I wasn't sure on the exact amount Ryuji owed Ann, and maybe there was already mentions of when and why Ryuji bleached his hair. It's been a while since I played the game so feel free to correct me! Thanks for reading!**


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